


LA Devotee

by Nerd_of_Camelot



Series: Black Sheep [3]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe, Bros on vacation in LA, Found Family, Getting to Know Each Other, Idiots in Love, Implied Sexual Content, Jack-Centric, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Post-Omnic Crisis, Reaper | Gabriel Reyes is a Softie, Returning Home, Vacation, also, gabriel is the only one who isn't a disaster tbh, he has all four of the group's braincells in this fic, jack morrison is a gay disaster in love who refuses to admit it, jesse and genji are bi distastersin love, like very strongly implied, sorta - Freeform, who haven't finished dancing around each other yet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:02:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22415950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nerd_of_Camelot/pseuds/Nerd_of_Camelot
Summary: It all still felt kind of surreal.The Omnic Crisis, officially-speaking, was over.“What fuckingtiming,”Gabe laughed into his ear.“We still get to leave for our home rotation, yeah?” He heard Jesse yell.“I do not see why they wouldn’t let us,” Genji chuckled.--The gang's turn on the home rotation has come up again at last, mere days after the official call of the Omnic Crisis' end.Jack...Doesn't normally go home; hasn't gone home since he got here. But he guesses it couldn't hurt to let his friends drag him along with them...
Relationships: Genji Shimada & Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison, Jesse McCree & Genji Shimada, Reaper | Gabriel Reyes & Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison, Reaper | Gabriel Reyes/Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison
Series: Black Sheep [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1608928
Kudos: 34





	LA Devotee

It all still felt kind of surreal.

Jack jumped lightly into Gabriel’s waiting arms, laughing in delight as the taller spun him around. He could hear Genji and Jesse celebrating somewhere off to their left, and the air was alight with the sounds of the rest of the Death Order (and, distantly, the rest of  _ Phobia) _ celebrating as well.

The Omnic Crisis, officially-speaking, was over.

“What fucking  _ timing, _ ” Gabe laughed into his ear.

Jack didn’t bother being confused, or asking what he meant. And it wasn’t that he didn’t  _ care, _ it was just that he was busy. Busy enjoying being wrapped up in Gabe and having an excuse for it―he was celebrating! They were celebrating. Things were  _ great _ right now.

“We still get to leave for our home rotation, yeah?” He heard Jesse yell, and it made sense now.

They were up for their turn in the rotation to take a vacation.

Good for them―Jack wouldn’t be going anywhere. It was  _ his _ turn too, of course, but… Well. There wasn’t anything at home for him and he wasn’t going anywhere else. No thank you. He’d just stay on base, like he had every other time his turn came up.

He hadn’t been home since he was 17 and, frankly? He may be a fully trained soldier now but he didn’t want to deal with Cain. Not after he ran away with all the clothes he could carry and five grand of his bereavement pay from his parents. Not after being gone for over half a  _ decade. _

“I do not see why they wouldn’t let us,” Genji chuckled, “Especially  _ us.” _

“You’ve got a point,” Jesse agreed easily.

Jack just pressed his face and unrelenting grin into Gabe’s shoulder and tried to savor it. Honestly, this was the most sustained touch he’d had with the guy outside of their (increasingly common) casual flings. He liked it. Gabe’s hold felt… Safe. He’d been short on that feeling for a while―getting it from  _ Gabe _ was a secret sort of thrill.

He tried to push those feelings away, but with little of the vindictiveness he’d have had if he wasn’t in such a good goddamned mood.

“Comfy there, Jackie?” Gabriel’s voice teased right in his ear, and he fought not to shudder.

He laughed, squeezing his arms tighter around his shoulders, “Very.”

Gabe laughed along with him, hefting him up a little higher and adjusting his hold on him. “You’ll just cling if I try to drop you, won’t you?”

“You know me so well,” Jack cooed back teasingly.

Gabriel retaliated to his teasing by biting him on the shoulder―which thankfully didn’t have any bad results due to being through two layers of fabric and not hard enough to hurt. He just laughed and gently swatted at Gabe, and Gabe laughed and knocked his chin softly against his head.

It was sickeningly affectionate, and terrifyingly domestic.

If this weren’t a time of celebration, Jack was sure he’d be running away with his tail between his legs. Letting Gabe get this close was… Dangerous. The last time he’d felt this it hadn’t ended well, and he didn’t want to do that to himself any more than he wanted to hurt Gabe.

But whatever.

He could deal with it right now and shrug it off as anything but what it really was  _ later. _

For now, they had celebrating to do.

“I’ve got some whiskey layin’ around from my last trip into town,” Jesse said, the moment Jack raised his head to suggest a real celebration, “You still got that rum?”

“Do I still have that rum,” Jack scoffed, affronted, “Of  _ course _ I still have the rum!”

“I believe I still have the sake that my brother sent me…” Genji trailed, glancing in the direction of his room thoughtfully.

“And I’ve got som Don Julio I’ve been saving,” Gabe chuckled, “We’ve just all been keeping the alcohol for today, haven’t we?”

“Well, duh.” Jack snickered, and wasn’t at all surprised when Gabe knocked his chin against his head again as he turned around with him still safely in his arms, “Alcohol is precious in these trying times.”

“Cheers, bro, I’ll drink to that.” Jesse snorted, already halfway down the hall to their quarters from the main floor of the Death Order’s compound, with Genji right on his heels.

He heard someone behind Gabe wolf whistle and turned from the awkward angle he’d had his neck at to try to see who it was. As Gabe carried him on into the hall, he saw one of the others from the Death Order giving him an enthusiastic thumbs up.

His face went red instantly and he dropped it right back into Gabe’s shoulder with a groan.

Gabriel just laughed. “Who was it?”

“Lucas,” Jack grumbled, “Who else?”

And that just made Gabriel laugh harder.

The door to their quarters slid quietly shut behind them and Jack finally lifted his head. God. This was  _ real. _ The crisis was over. He was going to have time to relax before Phobia’s head honchos inevitably put him and the rest of the Death Order back on active duty to make  _ sure _ the crisis was over and there were no other new threats. Whatever fledgling organization had been around a year ago had already been dealt with, with all the cold precision he expected from the rest of the Death Order at that, so as far as they knew  _ now _ there weren’t any threats… But they had to stay vigilant in the aftermath of the crisis.

“Gonna let me put you down?” Gabe asked, stalling near one of the couches, “Or are you just gonna cling?”

Jack hummed thoughtfully, then promptly let go of Gabe and let him drop him onto the cushions, where he bounced with a startled laugh. Gabe snickered and ruffled his hair affectionately, pushing him backwards a bit as he left. Probably to go grab that Don Julio.

Eh, Jack might as well make himself useful and grab that rum.

He managed to heave himself up off the couch and clamber down the hall to his room and retrieve the bottle from under his bed. He pulled out a few other things, while he was at it―celebratory things. Like baking ingredients.

He just had to hope the cold ingredients (like milk and eggs) were available in the communal kitchen in their quarters. It’d be just like Jesse to have finished the milk this morning…

He started setting up shop in the kitchen and was delighted to find that the remaining ingredients he couldn’t hide under his bed were here. And thank  _ God _ for that, huh? He liked being on the Death Order―they got to have a fridge, and  _ real butter. _

Real food in general, but  _ real butter. _

When Genji entered the kitchen and found him commandeering part of the island to begin his preparations on, the other laughed and (almost abashedly) placed the items in his own hands down on another part of the surprisingly spacious counter.

“It seems that we had the same idea,” Genji said fondly, “To celebrate with sweets.”

“You gonna make mochi?” Jack asked, curiously.

Genji had said several times he was planning to make some eventually, just to make Jack try some. It’d be cool if he got to try it today.

“And cha dango!” Genji agreed, looking a little giddy. “Thankfully they’re both fairly simple, and it hasn’t been so long I don’t remember how to do it… I remember mom teaching Hanzo and I how to make both, when we were little.” His expression turned half-mournful, “... The last good memory I have with him is making hanami dango for the holiday the year before I joined Phobia.” He shook himself, smiling again, “Thankfully, with it stuck so firmly in my mind as the last good memory I have with him, I remember exactly how to make it!”

Jack frowned, but quickly turned it into a smile when Genji glanced at him. He still didn’t know terribly much about Hanzo, or the circumstances leading to him meeting Genji during the early days of Phobia. He never really asked―it was kind of an emotionally charged topic. He hated making Genji uncomfortable or upset. He was like the brother he’d never had, after all. If Genji was willing to talk, that was a good sign, but he still hated to see him looking so mournful for the man who had, apparently, left him crippled prior to joining Phobia.

His eyes traced over the elbow brace the man almost always had to wear, dropping to his prosthetic leg (and foot, on the other side) a second later.

Were it not for Phobia, Genji would either be dead or wheelchair-bound.

“What are you going to make, Jack?” Genji cocked his head to the side, pulling him from his thoughts.

“Brownies,” He answered, grinning a little more genuinely at the associated memories that always cropped up when he thought about brownies, “Probably cookies, too. Maybe even a cake―I’ve been hoarding up ingredients for  _ years _ for this day so I probably have enough for all three.”

“Chocolate overload,” Genji uttered, though he looked impressed, “You never told me you knew how to bake,” He pointed out.

“My aunt taught me,” Jack explained, starting to get his ingredients ready, “She loved sweets, and so did Cain, so helping her bake was fun for both of us and a good way to get me into Cain’s good graces for a while.”

They were quiet for a moment as they both started their preparations, practically dancing around each other in the kitchen as they both figured out what they had available to them from stocking themselves on trips into town and what they had in the kitchen already. They’d both pretty much gotten their areas set up and Jack had the oven preheating for his brownies.

Now was the matter of actually  _ making _ the food.

He shrugged out of his jacket and threw it over the back of the couch before retreating back into the kitchen to wash his hands. And arms.

Aunt Courtney was a darling and she was a delight to be around, but one thing she’d drilled through Jack’s head with righteous  _ fury _ was that your hands better be washed before you touched food. At least when cooking―she’d had a rather more permissive outlook on whether he washed his hands or not before he ate. The way she saw it, the only person he was hurting then was himself.

That was helpful, since when he was on active duty it wasn’t often possible for him to wash his hands before he ate. He just had to hope nothing got under his gloves. He’d hate to have to sit there in the middle of a war zone with her voice in his head screeching indignantly about him not washing his hands before he ate.

It made him laugh, now, to think of the possibility.

Genji followed his lead after he dried his hands, washing up to his elbow on the arm that he could do so on and up to the edge of his brace on the other.

Jack passed him the towel.

“A’ight,” Jesse began, entering the kitchen with his bottle of whiskey held aloft like a prize, “Finally found― What’s going on in here?”

Jack could only laugh, motioning for him to set the bottle next to the bottles of rum and sake on the far counter.

“We’re baking. To celebrate.”

Jesse’s eyes widened, and it was actually pretty cute. He was like a puppy, really. A big puppy. Like… A pit-bull, probably. Fully capable of tearing Jack to shreds if provoked, but a sweetheart who didn’t like to hurt people and cute as hell when he wasn’t bearing his teeth and snarling… Which was most of the time.

Like a pit-bull.

He was a sweetie 97% of the time, was Jack’s point, and the awestruck look on his face was enough to make Jack want to ruffle his hair.

He valiantly resisted the urge.

“I’m making brownies,” He informed the man, and watched him almost seem to melt.

“Best day ever,” Jesse uttered, sinking into one of the stools at the far end of the counter, with the alcohol.

Jack and Genji just laughed, and Jack caught Genji giving Jesse  _ that _ look.

It wasn’t a secret to Jack (or to Genji) that Genji had an embarrassingly long-standing crush on the southern man. Still, seeing them dancing around each other like this even  _ now _ was frustrating. He knew Genji wasn’t a coward, and he knew neither Genji nor Jesse would  _ ever _ hold a failed attempt at a romantic relationship against each other, so he didn’t see the problem, but… Well. Romance wasn’t his  _ thing, _ really. And it was possible that Genji’s rather storied history of sleeping around in his teens made him hesitant to try anything with Jesse for fear he was just horny after years of no dick as far as Jack knew.

He snorted to himself, shaking his head, and set his mind on his task.

It was a relief to be baking again―aside from the obvious truths he’d told Genji, he’d always liked baking for a few reasons. Primarily he liked that there were specific, reliable instructions, and specific, reliable outcomes to following them (or not). Living with Cain had been something of a minefield when it came to punishments for behaviors (and he’d been  _ on _ a minefield now, he could  _ say _ that) because without something or someone to identify which behavior was currently going to be punished, everything was up in the air aside from some obvious ones that were more like a vaguely bomb-shaped thing barely covered by the dirt than the rest of the buried mines.

This was of course ignoring that baking was… Repetitive. All of the motions involved were repetitive―opening ingredients, measuring, cracking eggs, mixing, pouring… All of it. And it eased him a lot to have something that didn’t require his full attention. That wouldn’t hurt someone (least of all the  _ wrong _ person) if he didn’t give it his full attention.

Worst case scenario, he burned something or added too much of one ingredient.

Baking was like the  _ least _ stressful thing he knew how to do.

Gabe came and went, dropping off the Don Julio with the rest of the alcohol and making some joke or another at both Genji and Jesse’s expense. He mostly seemed to steer himself clear of Jack, but Jack understood. Genji was being loud. He was joking around and occasionally tossing unused bits of his ingredients at Jesse, who wasn’t baking and was kind of just in here to socialize.

Jack, though, was being quiet.

Gabe seemed to know him well enough to understand that that meant he wasn’t going to respond to jokes and probably didn’t want to be interrupted.

He appreciated it, even if the drama queen in him pitched a fit over him not giving him attention when he gave it to Genji and Jesse.

_ Do we even  _ **_want_ ** _ attention? _ He thought at that part of himself, and it replied in the negative without hesitation.

It took physical effort to not sigh out loud. Why was he like this?

Whatever.

Brownies in the oven, he started in on the cookies and watched Jesse go wide-eyed again when he realized Jack wasn’t  _ just _ making brownies.

He’d done this specific combination of sweets with his aunt so many times that he even had it down to an art how hot the oven needed to be and how much cook time needed to be adjusted for each item to properly cook all three.

Because, yes, he did intend to make that cake now that he could see he had enough ingredients to get away with it  _ and _ have plenty left over.

“You’re like some kinda bakin’ god, Jackie,” Jesse told him, solemnly, as Genji got around to the more delicate parts of his sweet-making, thus making him go quiet as well.

Jack laughed, rolling up the cookie dough into appropriately sized balls mostly from muscle memory. How many times had he made cookies with Courtney? It was almost ridiculous that he was so used to it even after half a decade away.

“I had a lot of practice with my aunt.”

Jesse nodded in that same solemn way, “I never learned―my Ma was always sick, and Pa wasn’t around, so…”

“You joined the Deadlock gang because your mom died, didn’t you?” He asked, to make sure.

Jesse puffed out a breath and quirked his brows. “Sure did. I’d say I regret it, but… Well. If I hadn’t’a had to run from ‘em I’d’a never joined Phobia. Not sure the tradeoff for not joinin’s any better than what I got now.”

Jack gave him a genuine smile at that, and Jesse grinned back.

And it was more or less a companionable silence after that as Jack and Genji worked on their sweets and Jesse just… Watched.

And it was just as Jack was finally retrieving his cake from the oven after leaving it to finish cooking that Gabriel returned… With grocery bags.

“Hitched a ride with another group,” He explained, “They all wanted to go shopping for, well..” He motioned around the kitchen, “Similar shit. You using the stove, Genj?”

“Only this burner, for now,” Genji said, “What are you going to make, Gabe?”

“No idea, I just grabbed what I could for about seven recipes  _ I _ know and some stuff for you three if you felt like cooking more.”

Jesse perked up at the prospect of being able to do something. “Yeah?”

Gabe grinned at him, commandeering part of the main counter to sort out groceries, “Figured you’d wanna make fajitas, was I right?”

Jesse was out of his seat almost instantly.  _ “Yes, _ the one thing I know how to make without fuckin’ it up!”

It got a fond laugh from Gabriel, who ruffled his hair when he got to his side to snatch up the necessary ingredients. And then Jesse was commandeering his own part of the counter near the stove.

And they all sort of danced around each other for the next couple of hours, throwing together what they could make with the ingredients that Gabe had brought home. It was… It was domestic, and comfortable. Jack didn’t think he’d ever felt more at home.

He loved it.

Even if it scared him just a little bit how comfortable it actually was.

They ended up with a spread of food that Jack didn’t think he’d ever seen laid out on the same table. Japanese, Tex-Mex, Mexican, Midwestern… Only Jesse and Gabriel’s creations looked like they belonged together, really. If he wasn’t well aware of who had made each dish, hadn’t  _ watched _ them cook, he’d probably think only three of them had contributed to all this food.

They all gathered up the dishes and arranged them on the coffee table, which thankfully was already far too big for anything just the four of them could put onto it otherwise. It held up nicely―there was just no room to put anything else on it.

And looking at the tightly packed plates, the familiar (and unfamiliar) foods, the desserts he’d tried before and the new ones…

He finally,  _ finally _ felt like he was at home again.

Like he  _ belonged _ somewhere.

He almost got a little choked up, if he was honest. But he was able to push it down and filter the emotions through so they were a little less overwhelming, at least for the time being. Cain had helped him develop that particular skill.

He joined in on the laughing and joking after he managed to calm himself down a little, and the four of them ate while they got into the liquor they’d been so treasuring. By the time that Jack was halfway into his second glass of rum he was starting to get tipsy―said something about the beer he’d been drinking for most of his time here. He’d been drinking since he was sixteen and he could  _ tell _ they gave him the weak shit here. He could probably down a six-pack of that shit and not get tipsy… But a straight glass of decent rum and another half of one after that?

Well.

It was doing nice things to his brain, and he was feeling  _ warm. _

He tucked himself up against Genji’s side while the other man began to sway a little―he was nearly halfway through his bottle of sake and Jack had the presence of mind to push it out of his reach.

“You’ll make yerself puke.” He muttered.

Genji begrudgingly didn’t reach for the bottle again and instead dug back into his food. He’d taken a healthy portion of whatever Gabe had made and he was making quite the dent in it.

Jack could only chuckle a little as he dug back into his own.

And they ate, and they continued to laugh and joke and he and Gabe absolutely tore  _ into _ poor Jesse while Genji was out of the room about not telling him how he felt. They did the same to Genji when Jesse left. And it felt  _ normal _ and Jack wanted it to stay like this forever.

“Where are you going on leave?” Gabriel eventually aksed him, midway through a brownie.

Genji was face-deep in a piece of cake, and Jesse was busy stuffing his  _ own _ face with every sweet thing he could get his hands on. There was no one but Jack, who was taking a break, for him to be asking.

“I’m not going anywhere,” He answered, simply, picking up a brownie and inspecting it for a moment―still moist, still warm. He took a bite while his friends all paused to stare at him openly. “I never go anywhere on leave.”

“You―” Genji stopped, eyes wide and disbelieving.

_ “Never?” _ Gabe asked, “For real?”

Jack shrugged and watched Jesse go pale, face horrified. “There’s really nothing left for me at  _ home _ and there’s nowhere else I really have any urge to visit.”

They all stared for a moment longer.

Then, slowly, Gabe sat his plate down. “... I’m heading back to LA,” He said, “You could come with me.”

Jack’s heart thudded solidly in his chest at that. Going to Gabe’s home city with him? It was something he  _ desperately _ wanted to do, but…

But he wasn’t drunk enough to say yes. He wasn’t drunk enough to chance how he might end up behaving if he said yes. If he went.

“I appreciate the offer, but…” He started, only to have Genji interrupt.

“Perhaps we could  _ all _ go to LA?” He suggested, raising a brow at Jack, “I know you were about to say no, but I get the strangest feeling it was primarily an issue of being alone with Gabriel in unfamiliar territory without the excuse of a mission.”

Gabe laughed a little at that, and Jack felt himself turn red as he swatted Genji’s shoulder. He grumbled something even he wasn’t quite sure he caught, crossing his arms. Fuck Genji for being able to call him out so easily.

“LA’s great,” Jesse said, rubbing his chin, “I wouldn’t mind droppin’ in―not like I can go home anyways, but stayin’ somewhere with y’all for a bit that  _ isn’t _ here sounds like a fuckin’ blast.”

“I agree,” Said Genji.

“... So I guess we’re going,” Jack presumed, unable to summon any anger that they’d sort of just roped him into it. It wasn’t like they meant anything bad by it. They didn’t want him to stay in the base on his own while they were gone.

“Only if you want to,” Gabe assured him.

Jack observed the three of them for a moment, then, laughing in disbelief, finished his brownie and shook his head. “Y’all.” He uttered. His lips pulled up into a smile and he flopped back with a roll of his eyes, “Fine,” He agreed, “Let’s do it.”

Jesse and Genji cheered, and Gabe grinned at him.

He just shook his head again and took a swig of rum right out of the bottle.

Oh, this was going to be interesting.

* * *

Jack was not surprised when he woke up in the morning, hung over and curled up on Gabriel’s chest. What  _ surprised _ him was that they were both still wearing pants.

Weird.

He laid there for a while, while he waited for his brain to wake up and stop hurting so goddamn bad, and listened to the steady thumping of Gabriel’s heart. It almost lulled him back to sleep, along with the warmth and safety that came with being held like this.

… He was going to miss this when it eventually blew up in his face.

He didn’t even end up moving until Gabriel had begun to stir, at which point all he did was bury his face into Gabriel’s neck and grumble that Gabriel wasn’t allowed to move yet. And Gabe breathed a laugh, mumbled something in Spanish as a reply, and promptly pushed his face into Jack’s hair.

Jack could live with that,  _ hell  _ yeah.

And the best part was, Gabriel wouldn’t question this later! They were both hungover so Jack wanting cuddles was completely within the realm of acceptable behaviors.

Eventually, he did fall back asleep.

* * *

Two days later, and Jack was loading himself onto a train with the others, on his way to the nearest airport to fly to LA.

It felt surreal.

All the places he’d been, and he’d never so much as stepped foot in the Western half of the United States. Farthest he’d ever gone was Missouri, on a trip with Courtney to visit some of her family. Past that, everything was unexplored territory.

“We should probably have made arrangements for lodging before now,” Genji noted, as they all got comfortable.

Gabriel and Jesse cursed.

Jack bit his lip. “Hang on, I’ll handle it.”

He tried not to flinch at the three pairs of eyes suddenly on him and withdrew his Com. There was an unspoken question in the air that he didn’t intend to answer outright. But, hey―he was filthy stinkin’ rich from his parents’ deaths and the sale of their house. He could afford to set the four of them up nice for their rotation and probably even buy all their food and drinks for the entire trip.

He hit up a booking site and set them up in a rental house with more zeros in the price than any of the other three would want to see. They’d be left alone there, it had a nice privacy fence, and it’d put a sizeable dent in the fortune he’d been carrying around since he was  _ eight. _

“Okay, we’re set.” He said, trying to be casual.

The other three continued to stare at him for a moment, but then they just all sort of nodded. That kind of nod that said, “Yeah, this might as well happen.”

“Do I want to know?” Genji asked, regardless, with a lift of his brows.

“Let’s say I have money to burn for stuff like this and leave it at that.”

They all kind of nodded again.

The rest of the train ride was pretty much silent.

The flight wasn’t really any different.

* * *

The other three were all too tired to really pay much attention when Jack got them a ride from the airport to their rental property. They didn’t even ask how much it cost. He was glad.

He tipped the driver generously, too.

_ Finally _ , his money was being put to some good use.

He wondered if Courtney would notice his money being used. Would it put her mind at ease, knowing he was alive? Knowing he was renting a place in LA and getting rides?

When they pulled up to the house, the other three seemed to startle themselves out of their stupor looking at it. Jesse seemed by far the most star-struck by it―Jack would admit he felt similarly. This was by far the  _ nicest _ house he’d ever had the pleasure of sleeping in. It had been pretty in the pictures, too, but it was… It was something else in person.

“Jack,” Gabriel uttered, “How much―”

“Believe me when I say you don’t want to know.” Jack replied, chuckling as he walked up to the front door to retrieve the key from its hiding place. “Just get settled in, yeah?”

He got several looks from his companions as they did so, but he ignored it for the most part as he got the chance to look around the place in person. It was… Wonderful. Best possible use of his money for lodging.

They were all pretty much settled in, pretty much over the surprise and awe, when Jesse’s stomach growled. Jack’s followed suit.

Genji and Gabriel both flushed slightly when theirs  _ also _ followed suit.

Genji swiftly called food duty and ordered them something from a nearby restaurant. The look he gave Jack told him that he was  _ not _ allowed to offer to order it instead, and all Jack could do was laugh.

By the time it arrived, all of them were tired enough that they more or less scarfed it all down and promptly went right to bed.

* * *

One of the best things about LA was that Jack got to watch Jesse and Genji pussy-foot around each other even more than usual, and he thought it was pretty much the funniest thing he’d ever seen. The two of them were so clearly in love with each other it was almost pathetic, but like… It was cute, too. Especially considering neither of them seemed ready to acknowledge it to each other.

Or, maybe, neither of them thought the other one felt the same, which was a damn shame, frankly.

But at least they weren’t so awkward that they couldn’t be alone together, because if they were he might scream.

Not that him being alone with Gabe because they were alone together wasn’t kind of nerve-wracking. He wasn’t immune to the irony that came from him pussy-footing around Gabriel. But, like… The thing was, he was pretty much petrified by the idea of a romantic relationship and  _ those two _ weren’t, so he liked to think he had something of an excuse. And, yeah, if he mentioned it to Genji, Genji would tell him that the only way he  _ wouldn’t _ be terrified by dating Gabe was if he gave it a chance, but what did Genji know?

… More than Jack gave him credit for, if he was honest.

He flopped his head into Genji’s lap the third day they were there and, bemoaning the fact that Genji hadn’t made a move on Jesse yet, promptly got poked in the nose and told that he had no right to mention it if he wouldn’t make a genuine move on Gabriel. It was an eye-opener, really.

Genji straight up would  _ not _ deal with his bullshit.

Fair, honestly.

So instead they both unanimously bitched about Phobia, and that felt pretty cool.

* * *

Bitching with Gabriel about Phobia was an entirely different experience, Jack found out later. Genji was vengeful in his ranting, but Gabriel was on a whole different level. It was pretty cool! So bitching  _ with _ Gabriel quickly morphed into listening to Gabriel bitch, and he didn’t mind. It told him a lot about Gabriel as a person, you know?

And once Gabriel started bitching, he didn’t really stop until someone made him stop, so Jack guessed that was how they ended up camped out in the living room all night. And how they somehow moved from talking about Phobia to Gabriel bitching about how goddamned annoying growing up in LA had been.

But even when he was bitching about LA, his love for the place never seemed to waver.

Jack could appreciate that.

He kind of wished he had that kind of deep love for Bloomington, but he  _ really _ didn’t. He wouldn’t care all that much if the place burned to the ground  _ tonight. _

He ended up falling asleep on Gabriel’s chest as the sun rose, and he  _ knew _ Genji was never going to let him hear the end of it.

Oh well.

* * *

“Seriously, though.” Gabriel insisted, “How the hell did you manage to afford this place?”

Jack could only summon a laugh that wasn’t nearly as annoyed as he wanted it to be.

“Okay, okay,” He relented, “You know how the army pays the closest living relative when you die?”

Gabriel’s brows knitted together, “Yeah?”

“My parents were killed in action when I was eight.” He said with a shrug, “And I was the closest living relative as their child, so all that money went to me. And then when my aunt and uncle sold my parents’ house, that went to me too.”

There was something like sympathy in Gabe’s eyes, but he didn’t seem sure if he wanted to act on it. Jack appreciated that he didn’t immediately try to comfort him.

“It fucked me up,” He acknowledged, and saw Gabe grimace a bit, “But I lived and I got over it. I’m fine―don’t worry about it too much.”

“... And you used that money to rent us a place for this?” Gabe asked, just to make sure.

“Yep.” Jack grinned, “This is the first time I’ve touched it since I finished systematically withdrawing money from the account so I could run away at 17 without leaving a digital trail―figure this is as good a use as any, you know? And I’ll still have plenty to waste after I finally get discharged.”

Gabriel didn’t say anything in reply to that. He just stepped forward, hugged him, and rested his head against his. Jack hugged back and tried, very hard, to pretend that it didn’t make him feel just as wonderfully safe and warm as always. That he wasn’t super,  _ extremely _ gay for Gabriel and this wasn’t something he reveled in every second of as a result.

Thank God he was a good actor.

“Thanks,” Gabe finally said, when he pulled away, “Seriously.”

“No problem,” Jack assured him, and he hoped that’d be the end of this.

Seriously.

He was over his parents, sure, but it was still weird to be thanked for this sort of thing.

… Or was it just weird for  _ Gabe _ to be the one thanking him?

He wasn’t sure.

He also wasn’t really sure that he  _ cared _ what the exact reason was. It was weird anyway. It was probably always going to feel weird.

Lord knew it’d feel weird coming from Genji or Jesse, too.

Or anyone, really.

Actually, come to think of it? Being thanked at all was  _ weird. _ The only person he’d ever gotten it from consistently enough that it  _ wasn’t _ weird was Courtney and… Well. He guessed that probably said a lot about his life. There were a lot of things that weren’t weird with Courtney that were weird with everyone else. It was kind of ridiculous.

Boy, look at him go, though. Deciding he didn’t care what the cause was and then looking further into it.

He had to fight not to make any annoyed noises.

And then he had to fight the urge to pull away when Gabe grabbed his arm and dragged him over to one of the couches. Might as well enjoy this while he had it, right?

… Right.

So he curled against Gabe’s side and refused to listen to his protests when he started ordering food. He just stuck his tongue out at the taller man and ordered it anyway.

Or, well, got most of the way through ordering it before Gabe had him pinned to the couch. He didn’t mind not getting to finish ordering it if it meant he got to enjoy Gabe a different way. Although he did have to wonder what was with the two of them and doing this on  _ couches. _

One of these days they were going to actually have sex on a bed, and Jack was pretty sure that would be the day he was no longer able to pretend he wasn’t in love with Gabe. So he’d just have to hope it didn’t come quite so quickly! As long as they kept having sex on couches or on training matts or against walls, everything was fine. It didn’t have to be emotional. Totally. There was no emotional connection in this relationship at all.

In the end, after they cleaned up, Gabe stuck his tongue out at him and finished ordering the food only after changing the payment details to his own.

Jack allowed it with a disbelieving laugh.

* * *

(Later,  _ years _ later on, he’d look back on the whole event and wonder why he didn’t just admit everything while he had the chance.)

* * *

Of course, no trip to LA was complete without a trip to the beach. Jack would admit that was one part he was actually kind of excited for without anyone else hyping him up for it. He’d been to beaches before, but like… It was different now.

He got to  _ enjoy _ it now.

And if he looked like a little kid when he went splashing in the surf with Jesse, then he looked like a little kid. And even more like one when Gabriel joined them and decided Jack was no longer allowed to walk through the water on his own―picking him up and slinging him over his shoulder like he weighed absolutely nothing. But Jack guessed to Gabe he  _ probably _ didn’t.

He was pretty sure the guy could lift two times  _ his own _ body weight and Jack was willing to bet he was at about a quarter of that.

“Gaaaaaabe,” He complained, nonetheless, “I have  _ legs.” _

And Gabe just laughed and trudged out deeper into the water with Jesse on his heels. Neither of them justified his bitching with a response. And that was one thing he guessed he could admit to anyone that he liked about these guys―there wasn’t a whole lot of bickering. And when there was, it was fairly light-hearted. They didn’t just  _ fight _ for no reason.

There had to be a reason.

He was just hoping that his feelings didn’t end up being one of them.

And he didn’t get a whole lot of time to be worried about it at that moment, really, because the next thing he knew Gabe as asking to make sure he knew how to swim.

“I― Yeah, I know how to swim, Gabe, what the fuck?”

“Hold your breath!”

And as much as he  _ wanted _ to question it, what he did instead was suck in a breath and hold it…

He was thankful for it when he felt Gabe heft him a bit more, realizing a little belatedly that Gabe was  _ throwing him in the ocean. _ What a shithead! Oh, he was gonna get him back for this as soon as he got his bearings.

The air rushed past him, he hit the water, and he sunk for a moment before he remembered what he was doing. Breaking the surface, he gasped out a winded laugh and shoved his hair out of his face.

“Listen,” He cackled, “I know I’m trash, but you didn’t have to throw me in the ocean.”

“Think of the turtles,” Jesse agreed, biting his lip.

Gabriel could only snicker, and Jack took the opportunity to size him up. What could he do to get him back?

Tackling him was always an option.

“Hey Gabe,” He said, readying himself.

Gabe glanced at him, and he grinned.

“Hold your breath.”

He saw Gabe take in one swift breath and didn’t bother to see if he held it or not. He lurched forward and took him down with him into the water. The last thing he heard before water closed over his ears was Jesse guffawing over Gabriel’s expression.

Jack surfaced first, after letting go, and just  _ grinned _ when Gabe came up and splashed him for his troubles.

“Shithead,” He said.

“Tell me something I don’t know.” Jack snarked back.

“Ladies,” Genji’s voice came from somewhere behind Gabe without any warning, “You are both pretty, please do not fight.”

Which, of course, got Jesse to all but fall over himself laughing again on the spot.

Peeking around Gabe, Jack could see Genji slowly wading his way to them. He almost felt bad for leaving him behind in the shallows, but… Well. Genji wouldn’t have wanted them to wait. He’d want to go at his own pace while they did their thing.

There was also the issue of his prosthetics. They were waterproof, sure, but he still had to be careful. They were expensive and not easily replaced, especially if he fucked them up while he was off-duty like this. Phobia would  _ not _ like that medical bill.

They all sort of floated there for a while, after that, joking around and bickering and bitching, until Jesse and Genji broke off for a game of Marco Polo and left Jack and Gabe alone.

Jack caught himself mid-word, just  _ stopped, _ when he noticed the look that Gabriel was giving him. How long had he been looking at him like that?

How long had he been giving him that  _ face? _

He looked so fond and amused and almost in love that it made Jack’s heart stop. It scared him to death, but it… It felt nice to be looked at like that. Not even  _ Vincent _ had given him looks quite like that. Quite so… Unfiltered. Pure and  _ dripping _ with the emotions behind them. He felt his cheeks heat, and he closed his mouth when he realized he’d stopped speaking.

“What’s that face for?” He asked, and he wasn’t sure if his lips were trying to frown or smile, but whatever they were doing, they were going for it.

“You’re getting sunburnt.” Gabe told him simply, face not changing, “And you’re cute when you ramble.”

He splashed him with a spluttered, “Oh, fuck you!” and started making for the shallows again to find their stuff.

He hadn’t realized he needed sunblock so badly. Had it really been that long since he’d spent an afternoon in the sun? He guessed he  _ did _ do most of his work by cover of darkness the past few years… That was weird. To  _ think  _ he used to spend the majority of his time in the sun! Katie had always joked that he’d turn into a marshmallow if he stayed inside for a single summer―maybe she’d been right, after all.

“Jack,” Gabe called after him, and he sounded just a little distressed, “C’mon, sunshine, don’t be like that.”

“Don’t get your boxers in a bunch, Gabe, I’m just grabbing some sunscreen!”

The “oh” he got in response was a little lame, but it made him laugh anyway.

“I don’t understand how you’re so pale,” Gabe said, as he got out of the water right at his heels, “Weren’t you a farm boy? Weren’t you, like,  _ six shades darker _ when we met?”

“Yes, and yes.” Jack answered, and started slathering some of the sunblock over his cheekbones where he knew he burned the easiest. “But I don’t really get out much anymore.” He paused, to laugh, and decided that telling Gabe a little bit more about his past wouldn’t be a bad idea, “My best friend growing up, Katie―she used to say that if I spent just  _ one _ summer inside, I’d turn into a marshmallow.”

It got a laugh from Gabe, and then a question he hadn’t expected.

“What was Katie like?”

Jack paused to consider it, halfway through rubbing the sunblock into his left shoulder. “Katie was… She was  _ somethin’, _ lemme tell you what. Hard-headed, honest―really, a lot like Jesse, y’know? Just… If Jesse was five-foot-nothing, a hundred pounds soaking wet, and old-school punk.” He paused to laugh again, “My uncle always thought we were dating. Fucker told me I wasn’t allowed to see her anymore, but I was 14 so of course all he managed to do was start the chain of events that led to her sneaking me to my first concert in the middle of the night a month later.”

Gabe laughed a little. “I remember how you dressed at the beginning of the SEP.” He commented, “I take it her fashion sense rubbed off on you?”

“We always had the same fashion sense, I just had to sneak my good clothes under some shitty second-hand junk my uncle thought was appropriate.” He snorted.

Another laugh. Then, a little more hesitant, “Is she…?”

“She calls me every Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Easter, and Fourth of July.” Jack assured him, “Last I heard she’s got a cute pastel goth datemate who’s about your height  _ without _ their heels.”

Gabe looked… Strangely relieved, and then impressed, and then mildly intimidated. “Sounds like a scary person,” He admitted, “Until I think about the pastel goth part.”

“I think I’ve got a picture of them…”

* * *

By the time they went home that night, Jack had talked more about his past than he’d ever intended to. He didn’t think the others would be all that interested, but, well… Everything he could tell them without dipping into most of his shittiest childhood memories was well-received. He didn’t even get weird looks for grimacing and skipping ahead in some of the stories when they almost got into nasty shit with Cain.

By the way, for real? Fuck that guy.

He hoped he rotted in Hell.

Separately, he hoped Aunt Courtney went right to whatever her afterlife paradise was, because unlike Cain she wasn’t an intolerable religious zealot who didn’t even follow the doctrine of her religion. She just didn’t have one. So he hoped she got what she deserved―Courtney deserved the very best.

She was the best.

He mentioned as much about both of them, somewhat off-handedly, and Genji frowned a bit.

“You feel very strongly about both of them, don’t you?”

“Sure do,” Jack replied, with mock cheerfulness, “But I had 17 years to develop my opinions and I’ve had another five to think on it with a clearer head, so…”

“All due respect, Jack, I don’t think your mind is  _ ever _ clear.”

“I just said clear- _ er,” _ He pointed out, “And if you even  _ think _ of saying I’m not more clear headed now than I was at 17, I’ll twist your nipples.”

Genji gasped, covering his chest with his arms, “You would not dare!”

Jack grinned, and Jesse and Gabriel just laughed and shouldered past them where they stood in the front doorway.

It had been a long day.

They were all pretty tired.

But at least, for once, it was a  _ good _ sort of tired.

* * *

They all camped out in the living room the night of the beach visit, and Jack woke up the next morning with Gabriel pressed up against his back with an arm around his waist, Genji’s leg thrown over his and the Japanese man’s face in his chest, and one of Jesse’s hands resting on his side from where he’d thrown his arm over Genji but couldn’t tuck it around him due to how close they were. It was… Really comfortable.

He didn’t want to move.

So he didn’t.

* * *

They spent a while longer in the house, but eventually their rent was up and so was their time. They had another day of leave time, but getting back to base would take a lot out of them and they’d need that last day to finish recuperating from the flight and train ride.

Jack was… Honestly kind of sad to go.

Oh well.

As long as none of the others convinced him to go on leave next time, he wouldn’t do it. No reason doing something like this again. No reason getting attached to something he couldn’t ever hope to keep.

He’d miss how open he’d been able to start being with the others, how open they’d been in return, but in the end it wouldn’t matter. He could keep that memory locked up safe and sound in the box of precious few memories that weren’t corrupted by a boatload of unprocessed emotions. It’d be unaffected by anything but the passage of time.

He’d never grow to hate that memory. He couldn’t.

It was too perfect to hate.

* * *

Arriving back on base was a quiet affair, for their little squadron.

Everyone else coming back today was still riding the high. The ones coming in tomorrow would be much the same.

Jack didn’t even have the energy to envy them. Being here at all after that, after such  _ bliss _ was draining. He kind of hated it.

Then again, after the first couple of months being here, he’d hated it anyway.

But it was always better than Cain’s house. It always would be.

He’d rather be here, especially now that he had these three.

_ God, or whatever god is listening, _ he prayed, earnestly, eyes closed and hands folded like he was taught, and it was more vulnerable than he even wanted to be in his own head,  _ please don’t take them from me. I can’t lose much more. _

**Author's Note:**

> Also I'm sorry everything in this is kind of vague and choppy? It's just kind of a consequence of having Jack as the narrator at this point - it's hard to write in-depth, feelsy stuff when you're writing it through the lens of a 22 year old with enough emotional baggage to cripple most men and the subsequent emotional range of a teaspoon. Particularly when having the emotional range of a teaspoon is _intentional_ on his part.
> 
> Lmao it's my own fault for writing him like that tho


End file.
